Charles
S French Charitable Trust

History
of the Trust

The Loughton based Charitable Trust was established
in September 1959 by Charles French, Chairman of the former
Buckhurst Hill civil engineering and construction company W&C
French. The original settlement included £500 and interests
in farming land in Buckhurst Hill and Loughton.

In
the early years under the leadership of its first Chairman Sir
Arthur Noble (former Managing director of W&C French) the
Trust's assets grew, partly through bequests from the French family,
and also from the construction of the M11 motorway through land
owned by the Trust. In more recent times Robert Thomas (past Chairman),
a well known and respected resident of Loughton, continued the
development and growth of the Trust until his death in 2007. During
this time the Trust acquired commercial premises in Loughton,
a small part of which provides our office base.

The
Trust's income is mainly derived from its assets, which currently
comprise investments of around c£9million, together with
rental from the farm land and the commercial premises. Over the
past seven years the Trust has distributed over £1.2million
to a wide spectrum of local charitable organisations, including
those concerned with the community, education, medical (including
hospices and respite care), youth activities (including support
for the establishment of the Loughton Youth Project), children
in need, the elderly and the disabled & disadvantaged.

Trustees

Charles French set up the Trust with a small number
of Trustees and over the years this approach has been maintained.

The current Trustees are:

William Noble
(Trustee since 1978 and Chairman)

Will Noble was raised in Loughton and Chigwell and
now lives in South Buckinghamshire. His father, the late Sir Arthur
Noble, was the original Chairman of the Charles French Charitable
Trust and Managing Director of W & C French Ltd. Will qualified
in Hospital Management and trained at the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel.
His career included 15 years in the NHS, 22 years in the independent
hospital sector. He retired from active involvement in healthcare
in 2010.

Martin Scarth

Martin Scarth CEng MICE MCIOB worked for 40 years
in the construction industry. He was trained by W & C French,
which then became part of Kier Group, and he rose to Chairman of Kier
Regional prior to his retirement in 2003. Martin has a keen interest
in youth and is a Trustee of the Construction Industry Trust for Youth
(CYT), past Chairman and Governor of St. Aubyn's School, has set up
a local Loughton Youth organisation (LYP) and is a Court member of
the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers of London. He has been a Trustee
for over ten years.

Joanna Thomas

Joanna Thomas MB BS LRCP MRCS is a great niece of
Charles French. She has recently retired from medicine after working
for the last 33 years as a GP in Loughton as Dr Jo Ide. She is a Past
Master of The Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers of London; a Verderer
of Epping Forest; President of Epping Forest Alzheimers Society;
Chairman of Chigwell Riding Trust for Special Needs; and Chairman
of St Johns, Buckhurst Hill, Church Grounds Fund. She became
a Trustee in 2008.

Michael Foster

Michael Foster AA Dipl MA RIBA is a great nephew
of Charles French. He is an Architect and a former senior partner
of The Tooley & Foster Partnership, based in Buckhurst Hill, Essex.
During his professional career he has been President of The Architectural
Association, Secretary of The Standing Conference of Heads of Schools
of Architecture and Chairman of the Friends of the Geffrye Museum.
He became a Trustee in 2008 and is a Governor of St. Aubyn's School.

Chris Noble

Chris Noble is a grandson
of Arthur Noble, one of the original trustees of the Trust . Chris
is a chartered Financial Planner with Saunderson House, a Wealth
Management firm in the City which serves private individuals,
companies, trusts and charities in all areas of investment management
and financial planning. Chris initially acted as an independent
adviser to the trust in relation to investment management and
became a Trustee in 2015. Chris lives in North East London.

Jamie
Foster

Jamie Foster is a
great-great nephew of Charles French. He is a Solicitor and Partner
of Hempsons, a law firm for the health and social care, life sciences,
charity and social enterprise sectors. He has been a Governor
of Shacklewell Primary School in East London and has been a Trustee
since 2015. Jamie lives in North London.

Antonia McLeod

Educated
at Forest School, East London and Framlingham College, Suffolk
followed by a Bachelors of Science Degree in Geography. Antonia
is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Insurers and worked
for 10 years as a Multinational Global Liability Underwriter in
the City of London..